The earliest known writing in Russia dates from the 10th century and was found at Novgorod. The main languages written on them in an early version of the Cyrillic alphabet were Old Russian and Old Church Slavonic. There are also some texts in Finnish, Latin and Greek. Russian started appearing in writing regularly during the reign of Peter the Great (a.k.a. Peter I) (1672-1725) who introduced a revised alphabet and encouraged authors to use a literary style closer to their spoken language. The dialect of Moscow was used as the basis for written Russian.

Russian literature started to flower during the 19th century when Tolstoi, Dostoyevskii, Gogol and Pushkin were active. During the Soviet era knowledge of the Russian language was wide spread though the subjects authors could write about were restricted.

Software

An interactive language program, Learn Russian Now! will help you learn the necessary skills to speak Russian. Participate in real conversations, read interesting articles, and watch videos. This program is great for both beginners and those already familar with the Russian language.

Need to learn Russian but don't have the time? Instant Russian is an audio tool to help you quickly learn the basics of the language. With this program you'll be ready for your next trip in no time!

Web-Based Resources

Web-Based Software

Mango
Languages is available free to all Saint Michael's students, faculty,
and staff in a number of languages. Each Mango lesson is focused on
practical, common conversation skills and includes instruction on
vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and culture.

Includes a combination of scored online activities, exercises, lessons and games. Course activities include an adventure story containing graphics, audio, video and an intuitive way to track learning progress. Learners are also challenged to practice speaking and writing in a variety of interactive modules designed to simulate real conversations with native speakers.

Saint Michaelís
is now offering online accounts to use Rosetta Stone, a leader in language learning software. While the LLRC still has Rosetta Stone software available in the lab, this software can be used anywhere, anytime! Interested in learning more?
Click here to get started.

Web-Based Links

BBC Language is an online base language learning software that offers resources for Chinese, Spanish, French, English, and many more languages. Learn the basics of 36 different languages and the culture as well!

Grammatica is a reference of the Russian language built into a text editor. It instantly displays stress marks, inflections, and translations of text you paste into the editor. It also allows you to type Russian text on a Latin keyboard by transliterating input.

This page offers help with different conjugations of Russian verbs. It includes a layout of what a learner's Russian keyboard looks like, and what a standard Russian keyboard looks like. There are also a few practice exercises.